The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and most of its affiliated and associate bodies keep functioning through expired committees without holding regular councils, increasing frustration among their leaders and activists over the party’s failure to ensure internal democracy and follow its constitution.
According to political analysts, it is unacceptable that the BNP is not practising internal democracy in running the party and its affiliated bodies even after the ouster of an authoritarian government through a student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024.
Currently, the BNP itself and 10 of its 11 affiliated and associate organisations are operating with committees whose tenures have already expired according to the party constitution.
The BNP last held its national council on March 19, 2016, although the party constitution requires a national council every three years.
Meanwhile, more than a decade has passed without a fresh council, leaving the party’s central leadership to operate beyond its constitutional tenure.
Following a BNP standing committee meeting on April 4, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had said that holding the national council at the earliest possible time was given priority at the meeting.
Responding to a question, he had said that holding the national council would not be possible before Eid-ul-Azha, adding that it would take a few months.
Meanwhile, a senior BNP leader recently told New Age that any effective initiative to hold party council was yet to be visible.
Jahangirnagar University government and politics professor KM Mahiuddin on Thursday told New Age that a party must first practise democracy within its own structure if it was to establish democracy in the country where it existed.
Regular councils and committee activities, he stressed, are essential for nurturing new leadership and preventing disappointment among party members.
Several BNP leaders said that opposition parties had faced severe political pressure, restrictions on political activities, and obstacles in organising large gatherings during the Awami League government, which prevented the BNP from holding regular councils and conferences.
The prolonged continuation of expired committees, they said, had weakened organisational coordination, obstructed leadership transition, and deepened frustration among leaders and activists at different tires of the party.
Amid mounting criticism over the organisational stagnation, the BNP recently moved to partially restructure some of its affiliated bodies.
The party on Thursday announced a 151-member full central executive committee of its youth wing, Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, through a statement signed by party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
The move came nearly two tears after the party formed a six-member partial committee of the organisation in July 2024.
Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal last formed its committee in September 2021.
The committee’s tenure expired in September 2024.
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal announced its central committee in March 2024 and the tenure of the committee expired in February this year without any fresh council held.
Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal has continued with the same committee since September 2016, when Afroza Abbas and Sultana Ahmed assumed leadership.
Although the party constitution requires councils every three years, the organisation has continued for nearly a decade without electing new leadership.
Muktijoddha Dal has not held a council since December 2013, leaving the organisation without its leadership renewed for more than a decade.
Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal last held its national council in April 2014.
Although the committee’s tenure expired in 2016, no new council has since been held.
Matsyajibi Dal formed an ad hoc committee in February 2019, but after the death of its convenor in August 2024, the BNP dissolved the body on September 23, 2024.
No new committee has yet been formed.
Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha has been operating with an ad hoc committee since November 2021, while Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal has kept functioning with a partial committee since September 2022.
According to several BNP leaders, while the previous political situation rendered organisational activities difficult, dissatisfaction is now growing within the party over the continued delay in reconstituting committees despite the favourable change in political circumstances.
They also alleged that the absence of elected and representative committees had contributed to increasing centralisation of decision-making within the party structure, limiting opportunities for grassroots leaders and activists to participate in organisational processes.
According to party insiders, the situation has further been complicated by the involvement of many senior leaders of affiliated organisations in parliamentary and ministerial responsibilities, reducing their focus on organisational affairs.
A BNP standing committee member said that the party had now greater flexibility of organising conferences, meetings, and political programmes, noting that such activities had long been hindered because of police pressure and administrative restrictions during the previous regime.
Another BNP leader said that reorganising the party through fresh councils was now necessary to strengthen organisational discipline and reconnect the leadership with grassroots workers.
The leader also said that decisions regarding organisational restructuring should reflect the views of grassroots leaders and activists rather than relying solely on top-level decisions.
He also said that newly inducted individuals should not be assigned important organisational responsibilities without careful considerations.
The BNP leader acknowledged that the party had not been properly following its constitution despite having clear provisions regarding organisational management and council procedures.
Professor Mohiuddin said that since the BNP assumed state power, party attention had largely shifted to government development work, while the lack of internal party democracy and the resulting weakening accountability had not come to the fore.
He further pointed out that the BNP had earlier argued that there was no political space, with the opposition parties left unable to speak or carry out their activities, but such a situation no longer existed.
‘The BNP is now the ruling party. Who would stop it from holding a conference?’ he said.
